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Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Anna Windle

(SR RESEARCH SCIENTIST)

Anna Windle's Contact Card & Information.
Email: anna.windledipaola@nasa.gov
Org Code: 616
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 616
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: SCIENCE SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS INC

Brief Bio

Dr. Anna Windle is a research scientist supporting NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission. She earned her Ph.D. in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (Horn Point Laboratory) in 2023. Her dissertation integrated in situ observations, unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS/drones), and Earth-observing satellites to advance environmental remote sensing in Chesapeake Bay. Her expertise spans satellite and UAS remote sensing, ocean color, and optical oceanography.

She holds an M.E.M. in Environmental Management from Duke University (2018) and a B.S. in Environmental Science from Washington College (2016).

Current Projects

PACE Phytoplankton Community Composition

My research focuses on processing and evaluating existing satellite and field data with the goal of developing and improving satellite methods for derivation of metrics related to phytoplankton community composition and particle size distributions.

Developing open-source data tutorials

Recently, I’ve helped develop tutorials for NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, enabling researchers to engage with ocean color remote sensing data through reproducible Python workflows. These can be found in OB.DAAC's Help Hub: https://nasa.github.io/oceandata-notebooks/.

I also co-organize the PACE Data Hackweek event that brings together scientists, students, and early-career researchers to explore data-driven questions using PACE data streams in a collaborative, cloud-based environment. https://pacehackweek.github.io/pace-2025/intro.html.

Positions/Employment

Senior Research Scientist

Science Systems and Applications, Inc. - Goddard Space Flight Center

June 2025 - Present

Satellite Mission Post-Doctoral Fellow

Science Systems and Applications, Inc. - Goddard Space Flight Center

June 2023 - June 2025

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science - Cambridge, MD

August 2018 - May 2023

Community Outreach Coordinator

Duke University Marine Lab - Beaufort, NC

2017 - 2018

Graduate Research Assistant

Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab, Duke Marine Lab - Beaufort, NC

2016 - 2018

Teaching Experience

  • Teaching Assistant, MEES621: Biological Oceanography, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Spring 2023.
  • Guest Lecturer, ENV311: Field Methods, Washington College. 2019, 2020, 2021

Education

Ph.D., Marine Estuarine Environmental Science, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, MD, August 2018 - May 2023. Dissertation: Incorporating unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) and earth observing satellites to enhance satellite remote sensing of Chesapeake Bay. Advisor: Dr. Greg Silsbe

M.E.M., Environmental Management, Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, Durham, NC & Duke University Marine Lab, Beaufort, NC, August 2016 - May 2018. Master's Project: The use of autonomous terrestrial rovers for high resolution light pollution sampling in beach environments. Advisor: Dr. David Johnston

B.S., Environmental Science. Washington College, Chestertown, MD, August 2012 - May 2016.

Selected training courses:

  • NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) training course. University of Maryland Baltimore County, MD. August 2022.
  • International Ocean Color Coordinating Group (IOCCG) Summer Lecture Series. Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Institut de la Mer, de Villefranche, France. July 2022.
  • NASA sponsored Workshop on Calibration and Validation of Ocean Color Remote Sensing. Bowdoin College, Schiller Coastal Studies Center (SCSC), Orr’s Island, Maine. June - August 2021
  • Cornell Satellite Remote Sensing Training Program. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. June 2019.

Professional Societies

The Oceanography Society (TOS)

2020 - Present

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

2019 - Present

Society for Women in Marine Science (SWMS)

2018 - Present

Awards

  • University of Maryland Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship ($15,000)- 2022
  • University of Maryland Outstanding Graduate Student Distinguished Service Award- 2021
  • UMD MEES Debbie Morrin-Nordlund Memorial Award ($2,500)- 2021 
  • American Association of University Women Easton Branch Scholarship ($1,000)- 2021
  • Mid-Shore Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America Scholarship ($2,000)- 2021
  • Horn Point Lab Ryan Saba Memorial Student Fellowship ($2,000)- 2021
  • Horn Point Lab Graduate Assistantship- 2018

Grants

Explorer's Club Washington Group Exploration and Field Research ($1,500) - Explorer's Club Washington Group - Awarded: 2021-01-01


Dates:  - 

Maryland Sea Grant Graduate Research Support Grant ($10,000) - Maryland Sea Grant - Awarded: 2020-02-01


Dates:  - 

Chesapeake Bay Trust Environmental Education Mini Grant ($5,000) - Chesapeake Bay Trust - Awarded: 2019-09-01


Dates:  - 

North Carolina Sea Grant/ Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship ($10,000) - North Carolina Sea Grant/ Space Grant - Awarded: 2017-10-01


Dates:  - 

Publications

Refereed

2025. "Optical water typing in optically complex waters: A case study of Chesapeake Bay." Science of The Total Environment 981 179558 [10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179558] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Evidence for Kilometer‐Scale Biophysical Features at the Gulf Stream Front." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 129 (3): [10.1029/2023jc020526] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Enhancing Georeferencing and Mosaicking Techniques over Water Surfaces with High-Resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Imagery." Remote Sensing 16 (2): 290 [10.3390/rs16020290] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Building an inclusive wave in marine science: Sense of belonging and Society for Women in Marine Science symposia." Progress in Oceanography 218 103110 [10.1016/j.pocean.2023.103110] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Multi-temporal high-resolution marsh vegetation mapping using unoccupied aircraft system remote sensing and machine learning." Frontiers in Remote Sensing 4 [10.3389/frsen.2023.1140999] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Robust ocean color from drones: Viewing geometry, sky reflection removal, uncertainty analysis, and a survey of the Gulf Stream front." Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 20 (10): 656-673 [10.1002/lom3.10511] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Estimation of Intertidal Oyster Reef Density Using Spectral and Structural Characteristics Derived from Unoccupied Aircraft Systems and Structure from Motion Photogrammetry." Remote Sensing 14 (9): 2163 [10.3390/rs14092163] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Evaluating Atmospheric Correction Algorithms Applied to OLCI Sentinel-3 Data of Chesapeake Bay Waters." Remote Sensing 14 (8): 1881 [10.3390/rs14081881] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Evaluation of Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS) Remote Sensing Reflectance Retrievals for Water Quality Monitoring in Coastal Waters." Frontiers in Environmental Science 9 [10.3389/fenvs.2021.674247] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Deep learning for coastal resource conservation: automating detection of shellfish reefs." Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation 6 (4): 431-440 [10.1002/rse2.134] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Rapid and Accurate Monitoring of Intertidal Oyster Reef Habitat Using Unoccupied Aircraft Systems and Structure from Motion." Remote Sensing 11 (20): 2394 [10.3390/rs11202394] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Robotic Vehicles Enable High-Resolution Light Pollution Sampling of Sea Turtle Nesting Beaches." Frontiers in Marine Science 5 [10.3389/fmars.2018.00493] [Journal Article/Letter]

Talks, Presentations and Posters

Other

Optical water typing in optically complex waters: a case study of Chesapeake Bay

December 2025

Oral presentation at the 28th biennial Coastal Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) Conference.

Global Distributions of Modeled Phytoplankton Community Composition Derived from Synergistic Relationships Between Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Reflectance and Environmental Data

2024

Poster presentation at AGU conference, Washington D.C.

A simulated PACE dataset to evaluate optical closure and phytoplankton community composition algorithms

December 2023

Poster presented at the International Ocean Color Science Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL.

Incorporating unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) and earth observing satellites to enhance environmental remote sensing of coastal waters.

November 2023

Duke University Marine Lab. Beaufort, NC.

Optical water type classification of Chesapeake Bay

2022

Oral presentation at the Chesapeake Community Research Symposium, Annapolis, MD.

Evaluation of unoccupied aircraft system (UAS) remote sensing reflectance retrievals for water quality monitoring in coastal waters

2022

Oral presentation at the virtual Ocean Sciences Meeting


Structure from Motion photogrammetry: A remote, rapid, and nondestructive method for oyster reef monitoring

2021

Oral presentation at the virtual 26th biennial Coastal, Estuarine, Research Federation conference

Atmospheric correction algorithms portray differences in optical properties of Chesapeake Bay waters

2020

Poster presented at Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego, CA.

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